Tag Archives: Dreams Come true

Last week I was delighted to attend a day long seminar in Manchester, NH of the New Hampshire Conference for Women

I’ve wanted to attend for years, but something always came up that was a time suck and I couldn’t. This year, when I heard who the featured speaker was, I pushed everything else on my agenda to the to do pile, because there was no way I was going to miss out on hearing one of my heroes, Jack Canfield, speak.

Jack Canfield is the motivating force behind the SUCCESS PRINCIPLES and the CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL books that have been in print and production for almost 20 years and show no sign of slowing down anytime in the future. I was a fan with the very first CSFTS book. I became a devotee when one of my own stories was published in the series.

In 2011 I submitted a piece of non-fiction I’d written after seeing an advertisement in Writer’s Digest for calls to a new addition to the series, FOR EVERY MOM’S SOUL. There’s not a lot I know about, but I know what it’s like being a mom, so I sat down and wrote a few pages on my reflections of being a mom to a daughter, and an only child. Well, miracles happen every day peeps, because a month later I received a letter from the CSFTS franchise telling me my piece was going to be added into the 2012 edition titled CHICKEN SOUP FOR EVERY MOM’S SOUL. (I’m on page 87)

To say I was excited would be an absolute understatement. It was around this time (2011-12) that I started toying with trying to get my writing career ( such as it was) up and running. I’d had a lot of success with non-ficiton, lifestyle stuff published in magazines, and some real success with fictional short stories in literary magazines, but I wanted to break into the book reading market.

If you’ve ever read anything of my journey to that first book’s publication in this blog, you know it was a strange, twisted road to publishing success.

But I made it and in 2015 my first book hit the shelves ( and Kindles!!)

I can truly attribute my desire and my knowing I was going to make it someday in the book publishing world to that first publication in the CSFTS book.

So, when I heard Jack Canfield was going to be the speaker, I had to attend. And boy, am I glad I did. I brought my copy of the book I was in with me, screwed up my courage, and approached him to ask him to autograph the book and tell him what being included in it had done for my career. Someone told me I was so brave to go up to him and ask for his autograph when no one else was around. My thought was this: I wasn’t brave, because I just remembered what I feel like every time someone asks me to autograph one of my books: honored! He was as gracious and open and kind and sweet as could be. He not only signed the book but wrote a lovely message as well.

Two times in my life I have dreamed about meeting the people who influenced my decision to try my hand at writing: Nora Roberts and Jack Canfield. And I’ve now met both of them.

Number 51! We’re almost done with an entire year of blog posts. Today’s topic is a goodie — but then I’ve thought they were all goodies!

So, like my title says, I don’t like to give advice. The reason is simply because I don’t like to get it! Especially unsolicited.

But…(You knew that was coming, didn’t you?! HeeHee)

What advice would I give to New Authors? Well, it’s simple really. DON’T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM. EVAH!!!

I was 55 years old when my first book was published. A time when people are thinking towards retirement, and I started a whole new career. I had many naysayers when I first submitted to publishers and entered contests at the age of 54.

“You’re too old to start, now.”

“You’re not the right age or demographic or personality to write and be successful with romance writing.”

“You’ll never make it. It’s a young person’s market.”

“You’re going to get your heart broken with all the rejections you’re going to get.”

I heard it all.

But I still dreamed I’d be published. I listened to those comments and then just as quickly forgot about them.

Yes, I’d had a few things published in my 20’s and 30s’ — mostly short stories in literary magazines that no one ever read, and professional nursing journals where a few people did see them. But nothing I could support myself with. The dream to be a published book author always stayed with me, though, despite that.

And yes, it took me until I was middle-aged, menopausal, and slightly neurotic before I ever saw a book of mine in print, but… and this is the key… I stuck to my dream and saw it fulfilled.

So, new writer who is hopefully reading this, if you want to write, write. If you want to be a published author, go for it. Don’t give up. Ever. EVAH!

I wonder what the other authors in this blog hop want to tell you? Stop by their sites and see: